COOK COUNTY – The Gunflint Mail Run kicks off the start of dogsledding season in Cook County, and features two races, the original event, which is a 12-dog, 100-mile race that includes two runs, approximately 50 miles each, over a two-day stretch, and an eight-dog shorter and faster race (65 miles).
The race will start and finish at Trail Center Lodge, 7611 Gunflint Trail, on Poplar Lake, Grand Marais, Minn. (For non-locals, Trail Center Lodge is approximately 30 miles up the Gunflint Trail). See https://www.visitcookcounty.com/event/gunflint-mail-run-sled-dog-race/ for more details.
2019 Gunflint Mail Run Mushers
12-dog: Ryan Redington (Skagway, Alaska), Erin Redington (Skagway, Alaska), Cindy Gallea, (Wykoff, Minn.), Lynn Dohrmann (Wykoff, Minn.), Morgan Halbout (Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Que., Canada), Erin Altemus (Grand Marais, Minn), Denis Tremblay (Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Que., Canada), Frank Moe (Hovland, Minn.), Sarah Keefer (Minneapolis, Minn.), Ryan Anderson (Ray, Minn.), Mary Manning (Hovland, Minn.), Colleen Wallin (Two Harbors, Minn.), Dusty Klaven (Togo, Minn.), Damon Ramaker (Fountain, Minn.), Blake Freking (Finland, Minn), and Jennifer Freking, (Finland, Minn).
8-dog: Talia Martins (Brule, Wis.), Steve Peterson (Granby, Colo.), Matthew Schmidt (Grand Marais, Minn.), Andrea DeBoer (Grand Marais, Minn), Travis Vanderhoof (Shell Lake, Wis.), Darcy Stanley-Nord (Milaca, Minn.), Julia Cross (Hovland, Minn.) Mark Flakne (Maple Lake, Minn.), Martha Shouweiler (Irma, Wis.), Amy Flakne (Maple Lake, Minn.), Rita Wehseler (Tofte, Minn.), Brian Bergan (Sioux Lookout, Ont., Canada), Joanna Oberg (Grand Marais, Minn.), Sarah Smith (Sioux Lookout, Ont., Canada).
First time Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race musher, Steve Peterson is making a long trek from Granby, Colo. with hopes of bringing awareness and raising funds for the Bethany Adams Memorial Fund he created in honor his 39-year-old daughter Bethany Adams from Eden Prairie, Minn. who passed a little over a year ago of a rare case of triple negative breast cancer. The memorial fund benefits the Camp Chief Ouray Scholarship Fund, which will send an underprivileged kid to camp each year. Donations are being accepted on the Colorado Gives Website, with a goal of reaching $25,000.